Conway woman among 7 volunteers from South Carolina headed to help with storm recovery

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — A Conway woman is among seven Red Cross volunteers from South Carolina deployed to storm-ravaged communities across the South.

Karen Anderson, who serves as a disaster workforce engagement manager, is headed to Columbus, Georgia. While she’s there, Anderson will manage staffing and field volunteers, including training, safety and personal care.

She learned of her deployment Sunday, and said the decision was an easy one.

“Who else is [going to] do it? Who else is [going to] go help?” she said. “The American Red Cross is absolutely incredible, and we train people how to respond and how to help people during these times. So, I’m trained, I’m ready, I should go.”

Anderson has worked dozens of deployments across the United States and serves her community locally in the American Red Cross Palmetto SC region. She said deployments can last a minimum of two weeks.

She described the 12- to 14-hour days as long, physically and emotionally exhausting, but worth every minute.

The organization has mental health assistance available to help volunteers manage personal emotional responses to the disaster zones and the conditions they work in.

“It really hurts my heart to see things like this happen to people,” Anderson said. “I know when it’s the worst day of their life and they just need someone to help, somebody needs to be there. It’s so rewarding to be able to walk away and say I made a difference in their life.”

Anderson said severe storm and tornado disaster responses are, in many ways, more challenging than hurricanes. Regardless, she said every single deployment matters.

“With a hurricane response, we track that hurricane and we know it’s coming, so we’re preparing,” she said. “We’ve got, typically days, maybe a week to prepare. But a tornado is what we call a ‘no-notice event.'” It happens and we need to respond. That’s what makes it so important to have people trained, ready and available on-call so we can respond as quick as possible and help those people who’ve had the worst day of their life.”

Additional disaster-trained volunteers from South Carolina are deployed in Mississippi and Alabama, as well. Disaster relief efforts in affected communities include food, shelter, water and government relief assistance.

The American Red Cross said roughly 140 volunteers are on the ground in Mississippi and an additional 140 with several supply trailers are also being called upon.

At least 25 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in Mississippi as the massive storm ripped through several towns on its hour-long path late Friday. One man was killed in Alabama after his trailer home flipped over several times.

Search and recovery crews resumed the daunting task of digging through the debris of flattened and battered homes, commercial buildings and municipal offices after hundreds of people were displaced.

President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi early Sunday, making federal funding available to the areas hardest hit.

A tornado reportedly touched down early Sunday in Troup County, Georgia, near the Alabama border, according to the Georgia Mutual Aid Group. Affected areas included the county seat of LaGrange, about 67 miles (about 108 kilometers) southwest of Atlanta.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.